I have set up this site, primarily, to pen down my passing reflections, thoughts and important quotes from Habermas, in the hope to get some stimulating reactions.

Monday, August 15, 2005

Habermas' seminar on "Naturalism"

It is exciting to know that in the Fall semester at Northwestern University, Habermas in his graduate seminar is taking the issue of naturalism further. It is also interesting to know that he is taking up McDowell's work in his seminar (perhaps for the first time).

Here is the description of the seminar:

"SEMINAR: SPECIAL TOPICS

Progress in biogenetics, neurology and robotics hassparked a wider reaching discussion on what it meansto conceive of human beings as an integral part ofnature. In this context the kind of naturalism forwhich science counts as “the measure of all things”deserves second thoughts. Whereas Winfrid Sellarswrote still in the wake of the Unified Sciencemovement, Quine is the main source for a scientismthat informed the orthodox view in Anglo-Saxonphilosophy. With reference to this background Ipropose a discussion of the deviating views of Putnam,Rorty, Davidson, Mc Dowell and others. With regard torecent voices in psychology and neurology in favour ofa naturalist self-objectivation of persons, I ammoreover interested in the long standing problem ofFreedom and Determinism: Is our intuitiveunderstanding of agency and of the practice ofreason-giving up for revision?"

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Habermas is a German philosopher -- "the leading systematic philosopher of our time," Richard Rorty of the University of Virginia calls him. But Habermas comes to this debate as much more than just a philosopher. "In terms of range and depth there is no one close to him," says Thomas McCarthy, a professor of humanities and philosophy at Northwestern University. "Habermas has been able to go into discussions in political theory, in sociology, in psychology, in legal theory -- in a dozen different disciplines -- and become one of the dominant voices in each one."

About Me

I am a philosopher by training. I wrote my PhD dissertation on Habermas and the possibility of transcendence from within. Beside Foucault and Habermas, I am interested in the work of Robert Brandom,John McDowell, and Charles Travis.